https://barcloset.com/blogs/tips-n-sips.atomBar Closet - Tips-N-Sips2017-05-04T19:36:00-05:00Bar Closethttps://barcloset.com/blogs/tips-n-sips/beer-show-in-onalaska-wi-may-6th-20172017-05-04T19:36:00-05:002017-05-04T20:10:12-05:00Beer Show in Onalaska, WI May 6th 2017Sam CBarCloset.com has spotted another beer show that is going on May 6th 2017 at the Omni Center in Onalaska, WI. Show runs from 9am-2pm and there will be plenty of great beer related items! More details are below.

"Attend this great, buy-sell-trade, breweriana show. Dealers from the tri-state area will have a variety of cans, trays, signs, bottles and much more!

This 30+ year event is sponsored by La Crosse Radio Group.

$3 admission, gets you a root beer float coupon from Rudy's.

Appraisals will be done free of charge by knowledgable collectors.

Food and beer will be available."

Stop in to check out some great beer advertising related items!

Sam @ BarCloset.com

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https://barcloset.com/blogs/tips-n-sips/18966691-does-your-neon-beer-sign-not-light-up2016-11-16T20:25:00-06:002016-11-16T20:29:59-06:00Top 3 Reasons Your Neon Sign Isn't WorkingSam C
You just bought a neon beer sign from a garage sale. You put it near an outlet to light it up one more time before you decide where to put it and.....ziiiiittttt.....it doesn't light up.

Before you start punching it with your fists, let me inform you the top 3 reasons why your neon isn't working in order of most common to least common.

1. Dead or broken tube.

2. Bad transformer

3. Bad power cord

I'm going to talk about a dead tube a bit. When a neon sign has a dead or weak tube, it slowly will wear down the transformer. With that said, be very careful when you buy a sign that looks intact but doesn't light up. Most likely, a bad tube was slowly destroying a transformer and was the main cause of failure. To fix this, you will have to replace the transformer and replace the bad neon tube or tubes.

Fixing a neon sign can sometimes cost just as much as the sign in the first place :(

Thanks for reading and happy drinking!

Sam @ BarCloset.com

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https://barcloset.com/blogs/tips-n-sips/19126815-a-bachelor-party-in-a-vintage-beer-jacket-time-machine2015-03-31T13:18:00-05:002015-03-31T13:18:42-05:00A Bachelor Party in a Vintage Beer Jacket Time MachineSam CA bachelor party is an elevated experience in life. By that, I mean, it’s a time when you feel like you’re on another level. It’s natural to feel this. You come together with, mostly, guys you have known for a long time, men you’ve shared many experiences with and men that you’ll have in your life for a long time. Because you’ve all come together to celebrate one of you taking that next step into marriage, it’s different from just getting the families together or hanging out to watch a game. No matter what, it’s a huge event and it’s something you’ll remember for the rest of your life. I’m writing about one bachelor party, in particular, because even though we expected to have a great time, feel like kings and to get a little shitty with our friend, Jason,` we never expected it to turn out the way it did.

On paper, it sounded like a great time. The fifteen of us were going to head north to Minneapolis for a Twins game and cocktails. It was a chance for us to get away from our responsibilities, (wives, kids, work, etc. . .) and to pretend for a night that we were back in college without a care in the world. Needless to say, we were ready for whatever the night had in store.

The ride up was as expected; we caught each other up on our lives, kids, jobs and plans for the year and then one by one the memories and stories from our college years started coming back. Through red faces and laughter, we relived every awesome and embarrassing story, again and again, as we made our way up to Minneapolis. What was a two and a half hour drive felt like a quick half hour and then we were at Target Field.

A quick trip to a rooftop bar killed the time for us as we waited for the game, which wasn’t anything spectacular. We had a chance in the eighth inning, but Mauer lined out to end it and that was that. After the game, we needed to unpack and regroup at the hotel. This is when Sam brought out a little surprise he’d been sandbagging the whole time. We were chatting over some drinks as everyone got ready when, for a second, all talk stopped. One second of holy shit silence was followed by a group of men acting like little boys on Christmas morning as Sam came out sporting a shiny, silver Busch Light coach jacket. Game over. We went nuts asking where he got the jacket, where we could get one, and what the hell was happening. With a hidden little smile, Sam pulled his duffle bag from the bathroom and dropped it in the middle of the hotel room.

If the night ended here it would have been incredible as a room full of mid to late twenty-year-olds tearing through a bag of jackets like little girls over boy-band memorabilia. Old Style, Blatz, Bud Light, Miller Lite; the hits kept coming. I was lucky enough to don the Old Style jacket that, by the name embroidered on the left breast, belonged to “Skeet.” Our night had now officially started. We had a mission, me, as Skeet, and the rest of the guys in their, now, shiny, nylon jacketed personas were going to hit the bars hard to celebrate our friend, Jason’s, loss of freedom.

A side note on Skeet: from the persona that just felt right, he is a good ol’ southern boy with a love for Kenny Chesney, America and hollering at the top of his lungs. It was disgusting and beautiful.

The change was immediate. As we waited for the bus to take us around the city, groups of people gathered to get their pictures taken with us. We were called awesome, sick, gross and a national bowling team as the people kept coming. With the addition of the jackets, this incredible night became even more extraordinary as we began to realize the power held in these shiny jackets. The bus dropped us off at Kieran’s Irish Pub and, immediately, heads were turning as we were swarmed by people asking us where we got the jackets, asking us for pictures and even offering to buy them from us on the spot. Old Style isn’t normally my drink of choice, but it was what I was drinking all night as bartenders and bar guests insisted that they buy me a beer. The same could be said for the rest of the group as everyone wanted to see the “Bud Light guy” drinking a bud light. We went from bar to bar and the result was the same. We also found out that we were catnip to bachelorette parties as well when it was, time and time again, insisted that we get a picture with the bride.

If you’ve ever joined in celebrating a bachelor party, you know how intensified everything is. You already feel like a big deal roaming around with your pack, but this was something else. If there was a way to feel like a celebrity, this was it. It was incredible how one little jacket grouped with a bunch of other little jackets could change everything so much. We were on another level that night. We floated above everyone else and, truly, felt like kings. I’ve seen themed bachelor and bachelorette parties and it’s been pretty cool, but the energy and the awesomeness had to always be generated by the group. We had to do nothing but put on some coach jackets and be ourselves and the world went crazy. In the months following, this was all we could talk about whenever we got together and I know that that night will always be one of the most fun memories that all of us will keep going back to.

If you ever get the chance to celebrate that special day with your friends, I suggest getting your hands on some of those jackets. One simple layer of nylon advertising a shitty beer can make the enjoyable night an incredibly amazingly awesome night.

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https://barcloset.com/blogs/tips-n-sips/18281199-some-history-on-vintage-beer-sweaters2014-12-02T20:27:00-06:002014-12-02T20:32:37-06:00Some History on Vintage Beer SweatersSam Carlson
In the 1970's, Budweiser started a trend by making knitted beer sweaters. One of the early years they did it, they had proceeds of each sweater go towards funding the olympic ski team. They used newspaper, magazines and television to promote the sale of them. As beer sweaters gained popularity, other brands followed suit in making these gems. Some of the brands include: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Old Style, Olympia, Schmidt, Grain Belt, Schlitz, Strohs, Coors, Black Label, Guinness, and more.

Most sweaters were made out of an acrylic blend to withstand abuse and cold temperatures while still being durable enough to be put through the washing machine. They were usually produced in the United States except for some of the late 1980's sweaters that were made over seas. A good majority of them were made in Milwaukee, WI in the industrial area. At that time, Milwaukee was known for their excellent knitting mills in addition to being a brewery city.

In 2010, Lancaster LTD. remade the Budweiser knitted sweater. The sweaters were made over seas and them imported to Canada and the United States. Urban Outfitters picked it up and was the main retailer. They didn't last too long and Urban Outfitters stopped carrying them after 2 years. Even thought the replicas failed, the excitement of the actual vintage sweater still pulls beer lover's heart strings. As time passes, these knitted beer sweaters become increasingly scarce. Owners of them have been known to frame them, wear them, hoard them and hopefully wear them.

Sam @ Barcloset.com

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https://barcloset.com/blogs/tips-n-sips/18266823-update-bill-murray-signed-pabst-blue-ribbon-golf-shorts-up-for-auction2014-11-29T10:54:00-06:002014-11-29T10:54:10-06:00**UPDATE** BILL MURRAY SIGNED PABST BLUE RIBBON GOLF SHORTS UP FOR AUCTIONSam Carlson
A couple of weeks ago there was an auction for a pair of Pabst Blue Ribbon Loudmouth Shorts signed by the one and only Bill Murray. They sold for an astonishing $1,225. The money went to equipping a disabled veteran in an awesome all terrain chair.

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https://barcloset.com/blogs/tips-n-sips/18105675-bill-murray-signed-pabst-blue-ribbon-golf-shorts-up-for-auction2014-11-11T21:03:00-06:002014-11-29T10:55:50-06:00Bill Murray Signed Pabst Blue Ribbon Golf Shorts Up For AuctionSam Carlson
There is great opportunity to bid on an awesome pair of shorts for a great cause. The Murray Brothers Foundation holds a golf tournament every year to raise money for specific causes to help disabled veterans. They are currently auctioning off a Bill Murray signed pair of Loudmouth Pabst Blue Ribbon Golf Shorts.

www.murraybrosgolf.com]]>
https://barcloset.com/blogs/tips-n-sips/17881035-yellow-i-heart-beer-stickers2014-10-29T18:51:00-05:002014-10-29T18:51:34-05:00Yellow I HEART BEER stickers?Sam Carlson
If you have made it to this page, there's a good chance you have seen these stickers. If you're lucky, it is stuck to the shirt (or pants) you were wearing the night before.

If you want some stickers for yourself, feel free to drop us a line at info@barcloset.com. If you buy something, we always make sure to throw a couple extra in.

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https://barcloset.com/blogs/tips-n-sips/16645795-bar-closets-first-post2014-09-16T21:36:00-05:002014-09-17T21:09:57-05:00Bar Closet's First Post!Sam Carlson
Thank you for visiting Bar Closet! It has been a great journey so far and we are truly excited to combine all the past websites into one hub for your beer and liquor items. We have committed ourselves in providing our customers with awesome items that hard to find. We will specialize in unique vintage items but will keep our eyes peeled for must have new items too.